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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

"Legend" by Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias' death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

I fear my thoughts on this book are going to be a little unpopular, because people seem to love it so much. It's not a bad book and I didn't hate it, but the story and I never really clicked. It has a very interesting premise, which is what drew me to the book in the first place. Unfortunately, dystopian novels are hit and miss with me. The story is told alternating between Day, public enemy number one, and June, military prodigy. I actually really liked that the female character was the kick butt, military expert. In a lot of books, if there are both male and female main characters, the male character is the "tougher" one. So it was a nice change of pace that the female character was the super badass. Therein lies the problem, because that was really the only thing I liked about June. I actually liked Day. I appreciated the lengths he was willing to go to for his family. I guess mostly I wasn't really feeling the relationship that formed between the two of them. With everything else going on, it wasn't developed enough for me. I suppose there will probably be more of that in the next book.

The book was full of action and that's probably the reason I kept reading. The main storyline was well written and certainly made me feel emotions of hate towards the bad guys. At first I suspected that Metias wasn't really dead, and that it was just some elaborate plot created by the military to get June to do their bidding. And that would have been just fine with me, but what was really going on ended up being even crazier. Like I said, this part of the story is what kept me reading. Usually it ends up being the characters that save a book for me and not the plotline, but I'm still not sure if I will continue on with the series. Maybe once all the book have been released. It always makes me sad when I didn't really get along with a book, but just because this one wasn't for me, doesn't mean it isn't for everybody else :0)﻿

I really loved this book. I'm posting my review on Thursday, I think. June is kind of icy-cold. I can see why you liked Day better. But for some reason, I really liked the action, I liked not being able to guess the ending - like who was really dead or not and who's fault that was! I liked the way June & Day respected each other. And the switching between them was quick, skipping the story along instead of recapping stuff. Obviously I need to WRITE MY REVIEW!!! Hahahahaha Sorry you didn't like it. That happens. I posted today a low review for a book that's generally "loved". Vanish irritated the socks off me, though.

I have this book on my shelf, but have not read it yet. It has gotten a great deal of attention and it makes one feel a little odd when one is bucking the stream by not being impressed. I'm even more curious to read it now. I have to be in the mood for Dystopian which is why I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'm sorry you didn't like this one. :( I can understand why you wouldn't like June. She is very cynical and emotionally distant the majority of the time. For me, there were enough flashes of emotion and enough character development to endear me to her; with others, though, I can certainly see how it might be a hit-or-miss.

And re: the romance--the way I saw it, these were two fifteen year olds who needed to move past the fact that they were supposed to hate each other before any feelings could develop whatsoever, so I didn't expect the romance to go very far in this one. I think it'll probably be expanded in Patriot. :D

Still, we all have very different opinions, and I can certainly see where you're coming from. Not everyone will love every book. :)

Hey Lexie! That's pretty much what I meant as far as the romance not being developed. It was quick and slightly unbelievable for me, since I don't think they really had a chance to truly get over the hatred they had for one another. I feel like they should have become friends in this book and maybe more eventually :0)

This book and I didn't really click either (it was a middling read for me) but I really did appreciate all the action in the book. I didn't really feel the relationship between June and Day either, it felt a little too insta-love for me but overall, I did like their characters. Haha, I wish Metias wasn't dead because I liked him a lot even with the short glimpse we got of him! Love your honest review. :)

Despite the fact that you clearly didn't enjoy it as much as you hoped you will, you still managed to get me pretty excited for this read. The way you described it, it still sounds pretty awesome. I can see how not being able to click with the main heroine of the story can be quite a turn-off - it happens to me a lot. But you got me intrigued with the whole "And that would have been just fine with me, but what was really going on ended up being even crazier." Wowza, girl, you definitely know how to send me clamoring for a book! :)

I'm so excited to read it and find out for myself if I will share your opinion on it, or join the ranks of overexcited ravers:)

Thanks for a wonderful, thoughtful and most importantly HONEST review <3